Sri Lanka

Airports

total: 14 usable: 13 with permanent-surface runways: 12 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 8

Highways

total: 75,263 km paved: mostly bituminous treated 27,637 km unpaved: crushed stone, gravel 32,887 km; improved, unimproved earth 14,739 km

Inland waterways

430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

Merchant marine

26 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 289,115 GRT/453,609 DWT, bulk 2, cargo 12, container 1, oil tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 8

Pipelines

crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987)

Ports

Colombo, Trincomalee

Railroads

1,948 km total (1990); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned

Telecommunications

very inadequate domestic service, good international service; 114,000 telephones (1982); broadcast stations - 12 AM, 5 FM, 5 TV; submarine cables extend to Indonesia and Djibouti; 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $417 million, 3.5% of GDP (1994 est.)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 4,906,666; fit for military service 3,825,774; reach military age (18) annually 178,213 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for one-fourth of GDP and nearly half of labor force; most important staple crop is paddy rice; other field crops - sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseeds, roots, spices; cash crops - tea, rubber, coconuts; animal products - milk, eggs, hides, meat; not self-sufficient in rice production

Budget

revenues: $2.3 billion expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1993)

Currency

1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89), $5.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $369 million

Electricity

capacity: 1,300,000 kW production: 3.6 billion kWh consumption per capita: 200 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

Sri Lankan rupees (SLRes) per US$1 - 49.672 (January 1994), 48.322 (1993), 43.687 (1992), 41.372 (1991), 40.063 (1990), 36.047 (1989)

Exports

$2.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: garments and textiles, teas, gems, petroleum products, coconuts, rubber, other agricultural products, marine products, graphite partners: US 33.4%, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Japan, France, Singapore (1992)

External debt

$5.2 billion (1991)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$3 billion (c.i.f., 1992) commodities: food and beverages, textiles and textile materials, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and equipment partners: Japan, India, US 4.3%, UK, Singapore, Germany, Hong King, Taiwan, South Korea (1991)

Industrial production

growth rate 7% (1991 est.); accounts for 16.5% of GDP

Industries

processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

11.6% (1992)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $53.5 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$3,000 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

5% (1993 est.)

Overview

Industry - dominated by the fast-growing apparel industry - has surpassed agriculture as the main source of export earnings and accounts for over 16% of GDP. The economy has been plagued by high rates of unemployment since the late 1970s. Economic growth, which has been depressed by ethnic unrest, accelerated in 1991-93 as domestic conditions began to improve and conditions for foreign investment brightened.

Unemployment rate

15% (1991 est.)

Area

total area: 65,610 sq km land area: 64,740 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia

Climate

tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)

Coastline

1,340 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by poaching; coastal degradation from mining activities and increased pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by industrial wastes and sewage runoff natural hazards: occasional cyclones and tornadoes international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

5,600 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 16% permanent crops: 17% meadows and pastures: 7% forest and woodland: 37% other: 23%

Location

Southern Asia, 29 km southeast of India across the Palk Strait in the Indian Ocean

Map references

Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or the edge of continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay

Note

strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

Terrain

mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior

Administrative divisions

8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western

Capital

Colombo

Constitution

adopted 16 August 1978

Digraph

CE

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Ananda W.P. GURUGE chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 483-4025 through 4028

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: President Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA (since 7 May 1993); election last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1994); results - Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%, Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%, other 5%; note - following the assassination of President PREMADASA on 1 May 1993, Prime Minister WIJETUNGA became acting president; on 7 May 1993, he was confirmed by a vote of Parliament to finish out the term of the assassinated president cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister

FAX

(202) 232-7181 consulate(s): New York

FAX

[94] (1) 57-42-64

Flag

yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border that goes around the entire flag and extends between the two panels

Independence

4 February 1948 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Ceylon

National holiday

Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)

Other political or pressure groups

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; other radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups; Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions

Parliament

elections last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by NA February 1995); results - UNP 51%, SLFP 32%, SLMC 4%, TULF 3%, USA 3%, EROS 3%, MEP 1%, other 3%; seats - (225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, other 33

Political parties and leaders

United National Party (UNP), Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA; Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF; All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), C. G. Kumar PONNAMBALAM; People's United Front (MEP, or Mahajana Eksath Peramuna), Dinesh GUNAWARDENE; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), M. SIVASITHAMBARAM; New Socialist Party (NSSP, or Nava Sama Samaja Party), Vasudeva NANAYAKKARA; Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite (LSSP, or Lanka Sama Samaja Party), Colin R. DE SILVA; Sri Lanka People's Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka Mahajana Party), Ossie ABEYGUNASEKERA; Communist Party, K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN; Democratic United National Front (DUNF), G. M. PREMACHANDRA; Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas DEVANANDA; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), leader NA; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRL), Suresh PREMACHANDRAN; Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS), Shankar RAJI; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Dharmalingam SIDARTHAN; Liberal Party (LP), Chanaka AMARATUNGA; Ceylon Workers Congress (CLDC), S. THONDAMAN; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties, represented in either parliament or provincial councils note: the United Socialist Alliance (USA), which was formed in 1987 and included the NSSP, LSSP, SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B, was defunct as of 1993, following the formation of the People's Alliance Party (PEP)

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Teresita C. SCHAFFER embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo telephone: [94] (1) 44-80-07

Birth rate

18.51 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

5.77 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%

Infant mortality rate

21.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

6.6 million by occupation: agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4% (1985 est.)

Languages

Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.9 years male: 69.37 years female: 74.55 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 88% male: 93% female: 84%

Nationality

noun: Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan

Net migration rate

-0.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

18,129,850 (July 1994 est.) note: since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of late 1992, nearly 115,000 were housed in refugee camps in south India, another 95,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West

Population growth rate

1.18% (1994 est.)

Religions

Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%

Total fertility rate

2.12 children born/woman (1994 est.)